The Shuttle USS Enterprise (CVN 65)
Newsletter Edition
“We are Legend”
December 12, 2011 Issue
Flight Ops: Proceed with caution
Photo by MCSN Harry Gordon
By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Gregory White As the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) conducts Fleet Replacement Squadron carrier qualifications in the Atlantic Ocean Dec. 10, there isn’t a place on the ship where loud thundering noise isn’t heard. The bulkheads shake and the decks rumble in every space. These conditions, caused by flight operations, are a way of life at sea, sometimes 24 hours a day. During flight operations, there is one space on the ship as busy, if not busier, than any other; Flight Deck Control. “This (flight deck control) is the main communication point for everything that goes on out on the flight deck,” said Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Ardinger, the aircraft handling officer, or “handler,” aboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise. Outside the windows of flight deck control, things move at a seemingly frantic pace. F/A18E Super Hornets, among other aircraft, takeoff, approach, land and park on the flight deck. Propellers turn. Catapults launch. People yell over the sounds of jet engines and controlled chaos. They are equipped with headsets and radios, as well as different colored shirts and helmets, representing their jobs. For example, the “yellow shirts” on the
flight deck have a specific role to play during flight operations. “We direct airplanes. We direct people. We direct all traffic on the flight deck,” said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate Handling 3rd Class Mary E. Nelson, a “director,” or “yellow shirt,” for the Air department. “We communicate with the air boss and the handler. They tell us what the bird needs, and we put it where it’s supposed to go.” At any given time, there is something happening in virtually every section of the flight deck. Every Sailor needs to know what is going on around them at all times. “Everything is dangerous out there,” said Ardinger. “There are just so many things. It’s never ending. You need to keep your head on a swivel from the time you step on the flight deck until the time you come back inside.” Ardinger warns that if people need to do anything on the flight deck, and they don’t know what is going on up there, they need to go to flight deck control, ask questions, and get an escort. On the island, high above the flight deck is the Plane Landing and Takeoff camera or “PLAT”. Through the eyes of the PLAT, one can see the entire 4.5 acres of nonskid that make up the flight deck. “Up here they record everything that happens,” said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate 3rd Class Benjamin Long, an Enterprise Sailor in the Air department.
Long said if anything moves or “breaks spot,” the Sailor manning the PLAT has to call the movement in to flight deck control. Flight deck control then plots all movement on the “Ouija board.” The Ouija board is a 1/16-scale diagram of the flight deck with proportionate models of aircraft. “We can keep track of every maintenance requirement. If they’re up, if they’re down, if they’re ready to shoot, if they need fuel, everything they need we can tell by looking at the template on the Ouija board,” said Ardinger. “The aviation crewmembers on the flight deck are an absolutely essential part of the team,” said Lt. Griffin Hetrick, a pilot and officer in the avionics and armament division of the Red Rippers of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 11. “We can’t do our jobs without them. We have to have trust in everybody that is handling the aircraft, giving us taxi directions, as well as our own maintainers up on the flight deck giving us safety checks and making sure the aircraft is good to go,” said Hetrick. ”We also rely on the landing signal officers to help guide us during the landing procedures. It is absolutely an “all hands” effort by everybody on the flight deck.” Two primary goals for the flight deck qualification operations during this underway period are for the Air Department of Enterprise to obtain flight deck certification and for pilots to meet their carrier qualifications. “It’s the first step of the at sea period for us, as the airwing,” said Hetrick. Ardinger said the Big E just received her flight deck certification this week. “We had to get our check in the box so that we can go on launching and recovering aircraft,” said Ardinger. From fueling to flying, flight operations are a key component of the Enterprise’s sea power projection. “Being on the flight deck is very hard,” said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Fuels) Airman Michael A. Chapman an Enterprise Sailor in the Air department. “It’s down to a science, because it can be very dangerous, but it’s a fun job. I’d recommend it to anybody. It’s a great experience.” “It’s like ballet,” said Nelson. “There is so much going on, but it all comes together.”
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The Shuttle
Monday, Dec. 12, 2011
Big E Happenings December:
Dates You Need To Know Dec. 16 - Return to Port Dec. 16 - 1st Leave Period Starts Dec. 27- 1st Leave Period Ends Dec. 27 - 2nd Leave Period Starts Jan. 6 - 2nd Leave Period Ends
Foreign Object Damage (FOD) Foreign object damage is damage caused to aircraft by any debris (including screws, wire, buttons, etc.). It can cause significant harm not only to equipment, but also to personnel and the mission as a whole. It can be prevented. It is the responsibility of every Sailor to make sure FOD does not occur aboard our legendary ship.
Question of the Day: 3M Q: What does LOEP stand for? Yesterday’s answer: There are 10 repair lockers aboard Enterprise.
The Shuttle USS Enterprise (CVN 65)
The Shuttle is published and printed daily underway and biweekly in port by the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) Media Department, FPO AE 09543-2810. This newspaper is an authorized publication for members of the Department of Defense. Please direct all story ideas, questions and comments to MC1(SW) Steve Smith at smithsw@cvn65.navy.mil Commanding Officer Capt. William C. Hamilton, Jr.
Executive Officer Capt. G. C. Huffman
Command Master Chief Public Affairs Officer ABCM (AW/SW) Eric M. Young Lt. Cmdr. Sarah T. Self-Kyler Editors MC3(SW) Jeffry A. Willadsen MCSN Eric Brann MCSN Harry Gordon
Photo by MC3(SW) Jeffry A. Willadsen
The newest Sailors to be assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) don their Enterprise ballcaps during an indoctrination graduation ceremony in “Big E’s” foc’sle Dec. 10. Enterprise’s indoctrination class is designed to prepare Sailors for life aboard an aircraft carrier at sea.
USS Enterprise Health Risk Assessment 2011 The Medical department is asking all personnel, military and civilian, to complete the assessment before Dec. 16.The purpose of the assessment is to help plan long-range health promotion activities, provide lifestyle education and provide a means to discuss concerns with a healthcare provider. To access the HRA online, go to: https://nmcpeh-web2.med.navy.mil/pls/newhra/hra Use UIC 03365 to enter the assessment. The HRA takes approximately 30 seconds to load. You will not enter any personally identifying information on this questionnaire. Once completed, select “Finished.” You may print the HRA then close the survey. This is a health and wellness assessment rather than a disease screening tool. If you have any questions regarding your results or your health please make an appointment to discuss with a medical provider. Thank you for your participation in the survey.
Monday, Dec. 12, 2011
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The Shuttle
Around the World House, Senate Negotiate Final DoD Bills
Photo courtesy of the Associated Press
By Emelie Rutherford for Defense Daily House and Senate lawmakers continued to hash out the final versions of the two Pentagon budget bills Friday in hopes of wrapping up the delayed measures--which dictate the fate of weapons including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter--in the coming days. The heads of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) said they and their House counterparts have only a handful of matters left to reconcile in their competing policy-setting fiscal year 2012 defense authorization bills and could strike a final deal as soon as today. Meanwhile, the House and Senate defense appropriators largely agreed this week to provisions of budget-setting FY ‘12 defense appropriations bill, which they plan to include in a massive omnibus appropriations bill covering most federal agencies nearing final passage. For both defense bills, the previous versions endorsed in the House and Senate took different stances on Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. SASC Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.) would not tell reporters yesterday what final differences remain between the House and Senate defense authorization bills. The SASC
and House Armed Services Committee (HASC) leaders met Tuesday, an official multi-lawmaker conference committee met Wednesday, and the four panel leaders gathered yesterday and plan to talk again today on the phone. “We’ll be finished tomorrow,” McCain said yesterday. Levin declined to make such a prediction. While the SASC leaders would not say if they and their House counterparts agreed on F-35 language, Levin again vented about news from Monday that the Pentagon reached a preliminary contractual agreement with Lockheed Martin for a fifth lot of F-35s. Levin said he does not know the details of the agreement but is concerned it does not jibe with the Senate-passed defense authorization bill. The Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) said in a statement late Monday it reached a “tentative agreement” with Lockheed Martin on “key terms” of the lot 5 contract, calling for a “fixed-price type contract vehicle and a concurrency clause where (the Department of Defense) DoD and Lockheed Martin will share responsibility on costs for concurrency changes--modification costs associated with changes discovered during development.” The Senate bill, but not the House
version, states the lot 5 contract must be firm-fixed-priced and the company must pay all costs that exceed the target amount. Some House members have balked at the Senate F-35 language. Perhaps the most-controversial issue with the defense authorization bill relates to military detainee policy. The White House has threatened to veto the Senate version over language calling for some al Qaeda suspects to be held in military custody. Levin and McCain have met with Obama administration officials in recent days about their opposition. Meanwhile, yesterday’s House-Senate appropriations conference committee on the multi-agency appropriations bill entailed little other than comments from lawmakers about their continued negotiations. Republicans and Democrats are at odds over policy riders in some of the non-defense appropriations bills in the spending package with a near $1 trillion pricetag. Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) said, during the open conference meeting, he hopes lawmakers agree to a final omnibus spending bill next week and do not delay their holiday breaks. A compromise measure is expected to be filed Monday, to ensure both chambers vote on it by week’s end.
Top U.N. Official Pays Visit to Somalia
By the New York Times Ban Ki-moon became the first United Nations secretary general to set foot in this war-ravaged country in almost 20 years on Friday, and he promised to relocate the United Nations’ political office for Somalia to Mogadishu next year, though other United Nations officials were skeptical. Ban met with leaders from Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government, a weak, divided and thoroughly unpopular entity that the United Nations has been trying to prop up. Since 1991, the United Nations has pumped billions of dollars into the country, trying to achieve some sense of stability, though chaos and suffering continue to be the norm.
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Monday, Dec. 12, 2011
The Shuttle
Around the Ship
December 12, 2011 Movie Schedule Channel & Show Channel 6: Frost/Nixon Love And Other Drugs Unforgiven Other People’s Money A League Of Their Own
Air Times 0900/1950 1110/2200 1320/0010 1530/0220 1740/0430
Channel 7: Death At A Funeral 0900/1950 How Do You Know 1110/2200 Tangled 1320/0010 Bee Movie 1530/0220 Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium 1740/0430
Photo by MC2 (SW) Kristin L. Grover
ABHAN Ashley K. Brown signals to an F/A-18E Super Hornet as it flies overhead during carrier flight deck qualifications aboard USS Enterprise (CVN 65).
Channel 8: Untouchables Quantum Of Solace Next Three Days Day After Tomorrow Iron Man
Big E Game Room
0900/1950 1110/2200 1320/0010 1530/0220 1740/0430 Down 1 “Star Trek” speed 2 Greek goddess of discord 3 “Green Gables” girl 4 Leo’s brightest star 5 Actor-director Welles 6 Cagney epithet 7 It’s not fair! 8 Attack from the air 9 Devotee 10 Circuitous 11 Written commentary 12 Augury 15 Tramps 18 Works of Shelley 22 Valentine’s Day gift 24 A day in Rome 26 Not just one 27 Dublin’s land 28 Estrangement 30 Islamic chiefs 32 Devotion to pleasure 34 Aimless 35 Yemen port 37 Military mission, briefly 38 Feat 41 Expanded 43 New Englanders 45 Gave out 46 Actor McGregor 47 Dining-room furniture 49 Elite squad 50 Gentle 51 Skirt style 53 Author ___ Stanley Gardner 54 Pinball problem 55 Greek peak 58 “Gosh!”
Across
1 Have on 5 Spherical bodies 9 Florentine river 13 Handel contemporary 14 Country singer Bonnie 16 Dire destiny 17 Beatle with the beat 19 Speechless 20 Sham 21 Gateway Arch designer
23 German film director Riefenstahl 25 Norwegian inlets 26 Boyfriends 29 Kind of diver 31 Art medium 32 Skirt part 33 Where Belgrade is 36 Prefix with athlete 37 Lives 39 Anomalous
40 Listened to 42 Legal thing 43 Christmas 44 Salad style 46 Devoured 47 Hooked claws 48 Sunrise 50 Devil worship 52 Become fond of 56 Newspaper notice 57 Unique
59 Seagoing ice 60 Greek sorceress 61 Right-angled extensions 62 Care for 63 “Carpe ___” 64 Biological bristle